


Priorities

by Wrighter92 (AncientDemonSkeldritch)



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, Robin hurt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-30
Updated: 2015-06-24
Packaged: 2018-04-02 00:18:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4040164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AncientDemonSkeldritch/pseuds/Wrighter92
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It starts off as a simple mission, but then things take a turn for the dangerous.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Bank

The team was seated around the large TV in the living area of Mt. Justice, headquarters of the Young Justice team. Wally and Artemis were, as always, at each other's throats. This time over the TV remote, which was in pieces on the floor under a shallow dent in one of the walls.

"Way to go, Baywatch, you broke the remote!"

"I did not! You threw it!"

"You took it in the first place! What do you even have against watching Downton Abbey?" Artemis yelled, now on her feet and glaring at the speedster, who also jumped to his feet to glare back at her.

"Because it's a stupid show! I mean how boring can you get?" Wally shouted back.

As the two yelled back and forth, the rest of their team tried in their respective ways to block out the fight. Kaldur, seated in a recliner separated from the rest of the teens, stared intently at the book in his hands, even though he hadn't turned a page since the fight began. Superboy also had an intense look of concentration on his face, though his attention was focused on glaring at the cartoons Wally had managed to flip to before the remote went flying. M'gann watched the fight silently, resigned to that fact that there was nothing she could do to stop them. She never could understand why the two hated each other so much; Earth customs were still much of a mystery to the young martin. The youngest of the team, Robin, was sitting next to where his best friend had been moments before, typing on his computer and seemingly oblivious to the fighting going on next to him.

Just as Artemis was looking ready to punch the speedster, a mechanical voice announced, "Recognized, Batman 02."

At once the two fell silent and Artemis unclenched her fists. Everyone's heads turned toward the doorway, hoping for a mission after a week of boredom. As if on cue, Batman's voice echoed from the celling, "Team, mission room in five. Suit up."

"Yes!" Wally shouted, grinning widely, "We haven't had a mission in days! I wonder what it is. I hope it's about some really powerful villains the League can't handle!"

"Idiot. If it was that important, Batman wouldn't have given us five minutes and we would have been warned before this," Artemis said, already starting toward her room to change.

"Not if they thought they could handle it!" Wally countered quickly, "And maybe the fight's cooled down a bit so we have time to get some info, or the bad guys got away and we need to find them!" Before he even finished Artemis was out of the room and half way to her bedroom, leaving an indignant speedster talking to thin air. "Dude. Can you believe her?" Wally asked, turning toward where he knew Robin had been sitting only to find the spot empty and no sign of the thirteen year old anywhere in the room. "I hate it when he does that," he grumbled, speeding toward his own room to change before running to the mission room.

When Wally skidded to a halt on the brightly lit floor of the mission room, he discovered that once again he was the last one there. The rest of his team and Batman were watching him, a holographic map of Happy Harbour, Rhode Island, behind them.

"You're late. Learn to get ready faster. If there's an emergency you need to be ready in an instant. No messing around," Batman said, turning back to the map. Robin smirked as his friend came to stand beside him, looking somewhat defeated and mumbling about _“wasn't messing around”_ and _“breaking the sound barrier in my sleep.”_

"As I was saying," Batman said, "There has been a bank robbery in downtown Happy Harbour." A red dot appeared on the map a few miles from the mountain.

"That's it? Why can't the police handle it?" Wally burst out angrily, only to get an elbow in the ribs curtsey of Gotham's Boy Wonder. Rubbing his side, Wally realized his mistake and tried to avoid Batman's glare.

After a few seconds the Dark Knight continued, "Now, the local police have the building surrounded and the robbers are confirmed to all be inside. They would have handled it themselves but the robbers have taken ten hostages inside and threatened to kill them if a helicopter isn't delivered to them in one hour. The hostages are mostly employees as well as a couple of regular citizens. You are to subdue the robbers and rescue the hostages without any casualties so the police can go in."

With nods of understanding and a slightly scared and apologetic look from Wally the team headed toward the garage for their bikes.

Once on the road Wally looked to Robin and asked, some of his words blurring together with worry, "Washe mad? I couldn't tell. I think he was mad. DidImakehimmad? Could you t-"

Robin cut him off with a laugh. "Dude, calm down. He was irritated, not mad. He won't come and kill you in your sleep if that's what you're worried about."

Wally laughed but sounded relieved nonetheless, "Hah! No way! I was just...checking. You know, he's _the Batman_ and all. . . Could be planning anything. . ." he trailed off uncertainly. Robin just laughed again and sped up his R-cycle, swerving around the others to the front of the group. Artemis grinned and sped to catch up, soon turning the short trip into a race when the rest of the team joined in.

The laughter died quickly once the teens reached the line of police cars surrounding the largest bank in Happy Harbour. Immediately they got to business, Robin opening up his wrist computer typing so quickly no one could read what was flicking across the holo-screen. By then, however, they'd all learned not to bother even trying. Robin would tell them when he found something, whatever he was searching for.

Aqualad questioned the police and surveyed the surrounding buildings before deciding to enter on the top floor of the bank and try to catch the robbers by surprise. They alighted on a roof next to the building and prepared to go in. M'gann flew in an open window in camouflage mode to scout out the room before signaling the others to that it was safe.

Wally prepared to jump across the small span between the two buildings, planning on getting a running start to boost his momentum. Almost as soon as he took off, Wally heard a shout that sounded like his name but he didn't think fast enough to stop. Before he knew it, someone tripped the speedster only to catch him neatly in black gloved hands before he hit the roof face first.

Wally heard a relieved sigh and Robin pulled his friend farther back from the edge of the roof.

"Wha-?" he began, but Robin cut him off, pointing to the ground a foot in front of where he had tripped his friend.

"Trip wire," Robin explained at Wally's confused expression. Wally looked closer and he could just make out a thin wire suspended a few inches above the ground. "Connected to a mine under the roof over there," Robin pointed to a spot on the roof off to their right. "If you had set that off we'd have been blown to pieces."

"Why didn't you warn me sooner?" Wally gasped.

"I only just found it. It didn't turn up on my original scans," Robin stated bluntly, already opening up his wrist computer again. "And I'm pretty sure there are more around the building and probably inside it too."

The rest of the team only just seemed to be comprehending what had happened. As they did, their eyes grew wide at the dangerous turn the mission had taken.


	2. Time

_I have not found any mines in the room. It should be safe_ , Miss Martian said through the team's mental link, set up by the martian so the robbers below her wouldn't be alerted to their presence.

_Good_ , Aqualad said. _Robin, you go in first and see if you can hack into the bank's systems and find out anything about the mines._

_On it,_ the boy wonder said, already leaping over to the bank and through the open window, carefully avoiding the active trip wire. It was impossible to deactivate the mine without accessing the central control for it, which he hoped to find quickly once inside the bank's systems.

Artemis followed after Robin and found him already hooked up to a computer in the small room, M'gann standing by the only door, which was cracked open barely an inch to allow her to see out.

By the time the rest of the team was inside, everyone was on edge about the mines, waiting anxiously for their master hacker to find something.

_Got it!_ Robin announced, closing his holographic computer and smirking triumphantly. _They have a master control on the second floor under the room across from here. It's hooked up to the bank's power grid. One guard. The rest are on the ground floor with the hostages._

_Did you locate any more mines?_ Aqualad asked, mainly concerned for the hostages' safety. They were innocent in this and if they got hurt from one careless move on the team's part he wouldn't be able to forgive himself.

Robin shook his head. _I can't until I'm hooked up to the control, but if they had one all the way outside I’m guessing there are bunch more in here._

Aqualad nodded. _Alright. You and Artemis go down. Take care of the guard and try to deactivate the mines. The rest of us will deal with the robbers._

_Okay, let's go,_ Artemis said. Robin nodded and the two left the room quietly, sneaking down to the next floor while looking out for more trip wires.

The two found correct room without any problem. Only one trip wire was in their way, stretched across the top of the staircase. Finding the door open, Artemis notched an arrow to her bow and jumped in, planning on knocking the guard out before he could yell.

But the man inside did’t seem surprised by the archer’s sudden appearance. By the time an electric arrow knocked him unconscious he had already pressed a small red button in his hand.

"Tie him up." Robin tossed Artemis a pair of handcuffs and picked up the fallen button. He muttered something and looked over to a black machine set on a table to one side of the room. It was about the size of a generic, movie-style bomb with a glowing green screen on it counting down from four minutes.

Robin took the UBS-cable from his glove and plugged it into the machine, looking grim. Within seconds of typing he pressed a hand to his communicator and said, "Robin to Aqualad. We took care of the guard but he set off a timing device on the mines. They're set to go off in four minutes and the guys downstairs might know we're here."

"Can you deactivate it in time?" the team leader asked, sounding as cool-headed as ever

"I think so, but I'm more familiar with bombs. It'll take me longer."

"Get to work, we'll be more careful."

"Got it."

Artemis spoke up when she finished securing the unconscious guard to a table built into the wall. "Wait. You have three minutes to deactivate that before who-knows-how-many mines go off all around us?"

"Three and half minutes and about fifteen mines. Keep watch," Robin said, already at work.

Artemis notched another arrow and stared grim-faced at the door. The only thing that kept her calm was the knowledge that if anyone was capable of disarming over a dozen mines in four minutes, it was the boy wonder.

Still. . . she wasn't too keen on being blown up.

*~*~*~*~*

The time limit didn’t do anything to help Kid Flash’s nerves. He was still shaken up by how close he’d come to accidentally killing his whole team. Luckily, the added pressure made it easier for him to focus on the task at hand. It wouldn’t do any good to dwell on his mistake - he’d just have to be more careful.

Superboy's X-ray vision helped them locate the few mines that were on the way to the bottom floor. When the team, minus two, arrived on the ground floor they found five of the robbers in the main entrance area of the bank, where people would come and deal with rude bank employees while getting depressed over their meager savings and towering credit card debt.

After getting the all clear from Superboy, the four heroes attacked the guards. The teens made sure to hold back so they didn’t accidentally kill the robbers. They might be criminals, but they were still regular humans.

Kaldur took out his water bearers and formed the water from his pack into glowing blue clubs, hitting two of the men on the head and knocking them out instantly. M'gann used her telekinesis to throw a chair at another guard, catching him with his back turned before he knew what was happening.

By that time, the remaining two robbers tried to put up a fight but were taken out with lightning-fast punches from Kid Flash. Superboy hung back for fear of accidentally killing one of the men. He was still learning how to hold back his super strength.

When the five robbers were piled in the center of the room and tied up together the teens moved on to the back of the bank, hoping to find the remaining robbers and hostages.

*~*~*~*~*

After what felt like hours but couldn't be more than a minute, Artemis turned from the door to check the control's acid green clock.

_2:16_

Taking a deep calming breath, the archer glanced at Robin, still standing in the exact same spot and working carefully but quickly to disarm the mines or at least stop the countdown. So far, obviously, he was unsuccessful.

The hacker seemed to sense Artemis watching him, because he looked up for a quick second and gave her a reassuring smile that faded quickly when his masked eyes returned to the holographic screen and the complex data codes he understood so easily.

Artemis resumed her look-out after another glance at the clock.

_2:04_


	3. Running Out

_Miss Martian, create a distraction so Superboy and I can take out the robbers. Kid Flash, you free the hostages and get them out quickly,_ Aqualad ordered.

They had found the remaining robbers and hostages quickly, aware all the while of their rapidly shortening time limit. Even after eliminating five of the robbers there were another ten guarding the hostages.

_Got it,_ Kid Flash said, _but don't you think it's weird there are so many of them for just a bank robbery?_

_I was thinking the same thing_ , Miss Martian agreed.

_I agree it is strange,_ Aqualad said, _but we do not have much time remaining. We can question them when the mission is over and everyone is safe._

The others agreed and started putting their plan into action. M'gann flew into the room in camouflage mode first. She levitated a small box a few feet above the ground and dropped it to draw the robber's attention away from the door and to the opposite side of the room.

In the split second that the men glanced toward the source of the noise, Kid Flash, Aqualad, and Superboy jumped into action. Kid Flash set right to work uniting the hostages in the center of the room. In seconds he had most of them free and told them to help untie the rest. A few obeyed but many seemed too shocked to comprehend the order.

Kaldur managed to knock out two robbers at once before the rest noticed he was there. Superboy restrained himself to throwing some of the boxes stacked inside the room at the men. When the wooden crates broke against heads and bodies stacks of paper flew out of them, confusing the men even more. M'gann used her telekinesis again to knock two of the mens’ heads together and make them crumple to the floor with large bruises already forming on their foreheads.

Soon enough, Wally freed the rest of the hostages and began herding them toward the door as quickly as he could. Shocked and frightened as they were, the civilians followed his orders without hesitation and the group soon arrived at the front doors to the bank. Before the relieved citizens could rush out the door, however, Kid Flash stopped them and examined the floor around the door for possible mines and trip wires.

Now that he knew what to look for, finding the thin wire stretched across the doorway was easy for the speedster. After that, however, he was unsure what to do. Quickly making a decision, Wally pressed a hand to his communicator and said, "Artemis. I'm at the front door with the hostages but there's another trip wire across the door. Does Robin have it deactivated yet?" Normally Wally would ask Robin directly but he was afraid of messing up the hacker's concentration. This way Artemis could ask for him and be sure to not make the kid screw up and blow them all to pieces.

*~*~*~*~*

Robin tried to suppress his thoughts as he worked on disarming the mines. Despite his best efforts, however, he kept worrying about how much time he had left. As a rule, Robin always tried not to look at the timers while disarming a bomb until his instincts told him time was running out and he wouldn’t finish. He hadn't reached that point yet but his eyes kept straying to the glowing green numbers.

_0:59_

Damn. Barely enough time if everything went right.

At first Robin had tried to stop or lengthen the countdown but had only just managed to avoid a major skip that would have left only five seconds remaining. After that he had concentrated on disarming the mines.

On most normal control systems the separate units were all connected together to allow quick access to the units and to make it easier to arm and disarm the entire set. This was not most normal control systems. Somehow the guard's button had connected all of the mines to a single arming switch. However, that was not the case with disarming the system. The fifteen mines were split into three smaller systems of five mines each and all three had to be disarmed separately. If he had more time, Robin could have found out how the button had connected everything but he wasn't too keen on coming up with a dead end and ten seconds left to get out.

The first set he disarmed was the system set up outside the front of the bank. The mines had been set up to blow half of the street out, including the police cars still gathered outside. The mines weren't actually all that powerful, but with so many they could do the same damage as one high-quality mine. It had been easy enough to deactivate them but afterward Robin soon discovered firewalls forming around the remaining two sets. He bypassed into one of them before the firewall became too strong and disarmed the second set. That one had been set up outside to the back and sides of the bank.

Robin cursed under his breath. He had been planning that one for last, wanting to deal with the set inside the bank first. Once more his eyes glanced at the countdown timer.

_0:24_

He cursed again as Artemis's voice interrupted his constant typing.

"Robin. Kid Dork is at the front door with the hostages. He found a trip wire across the door. Have you disarmed it yet?"

Robin quickly checked the mine in question, hoping it was part of the first set.

"No. I only got the ones outside. Tell him to use the window to the right, it's safe" He returned at once to taking down the last firewall.

_0:18_

Not enough time.

*~*~*~*~*

"Come on, hurry up! This place is going to blow in less than a minute!"

That got them to hurry.

Kid Flash was helping the former hostages out of the window Robin had suggested. As he had said, there had been no visible mines attached to the window and Wally had trusted his friend enough to say that there weren't any hidden ones either.

He had broken the window, not wanting to waste time opening it the right way, and ordered his confused charges to climb out. The ones that had their panic under reasonable control had helped him get the more elderly citizens out first and the more panicked ones after.

When only a few were left to climb out, Aqualad, Superboy, and M'gann joined Wally.

"Robin has the mines outside disarmed but the ones in here are active," Kid Flash informed them.

"I moved the robbers out of a window to keep them safe. They should be far enough away," M'gann said. Wally nodded as the last civilian climbed out of the window. He quickly followed with his teammates close behind him.

Kaldur's voice sounded out, "Robin, Artemis. Everyone is outside the building. Come o-"

He was cut off by multiple explosions from within the bank.


	4. The Fall

_0:10_

Too late. The others had better be out.

"Artemis, untie the guard. Now!"

The archer obeyed without a word. She slung the unconscious guard fireman-style over her shoulder and met Robin at the window.

Robin's USB plug came free of the controller and snaked back into his glove as he ran to one of the two windows in the room. As he yanked it open Robin heard a voice from his communicator, but he ignored it. Hopefully it meant everyone was safe.

He glanced back at the timer.

_0:03_

"Jump!"

As they did, Robin grabbed Artemis and turned her so she was facing away from the building and toward him. He positioned himself with his back to the building opposite the window. Briefly their eyes met and conveyed a mutual understanding of what was about to happen.

Mentally, he counted down.

The explosion deafened the Boy Wonder, but he hardly had time to notice before his back slammed into the other building. He felt something crack and might have cried out but he still couldn't hear a thing.

As he started to fall, Robin felt the back of his uniform tear against the brick wall of the building and scrape his back and shoulder, but he just grimaced and again used the split second to almost reflexively position himself to break their fall and save the other two from the worst of the damage.

The landing itself wasn't too bad, but the large chunk of wall that fell on them defiantly topped the list of "Worst Things to Happen at Bank," right after getting blown up and finding out you don't have any money left in your savings account.

Robin felt his head hit something hard and his vision went black.

*~*~*~*~*

The explosion knocked Wally to the ground, but he was up again in an instant and scanning the area for signs of Robin and Artemis. The dust from the collapsing building clogged the air and made it difficult to see or breath, causing many of the people around Wally to cough and back up, but he only felt annoyance at the inconvenience.

Sticking his arms out in front of him, Kid Flash spun them at super speed to clear the air around him. When he finished, much of the dust had already started to dissipate on its own to reveal the damage done to the bank. Or what used to be the bank, really.

Some of the walls were still partly standing but the majority had collapsed or blown outward. And that was only with a few of the mines going off. Despite his panic over his friends, Wally couldn't help but imagine what all of the mines going off would have done to the street and other buildings. His imagination did nothing to help sooth his growing fear.

After his brief lapse of concentration, Wally shook his head and ran right into the ruins of the building, not caring for his own safety, only wanting to find his friends. Dimly he was aware of someone calling him, but he ignored them and ran through the rubble, calling for Robin and Artemis.

"Wait!" A shout from Superboy caused the speedster to pause, more at his tone of voice than anything. "I-I think I hear something, but the explosion hurt my ears," the clone said, appearing around a crumbling wall with a confused look on his face. "It's coming from over there."

Without a moment's pause, Wally was off in the direction the clone had indicated. As he ran, a speck of green caught the speedster's eye and he skidded to a halt.

"Over here!" he yelled after seeing the huge section of wall covering the green and knowing he couldn't lift it himself. Superboy appeared behind him once more and without a word lifted the slab and tossed it away without so much as a grunt.

When the small cloud of dust thinned Wally let out a sound somewhere between a yelp of excitement and a groan of fear.

Underneath the wall were his friends along with a man he assumed to be the guard they had taken out. They were all covered with a thick coating of dust from the rubble, but that didn't hide the obvious burns and scrapes each had attained. Worse than that, Robin's right arm was laying at a weird angle and the sleeve of the same arm was torn back to reveal some bad looking cuts. Artemis appeared to have several bad scrapes and burns as well. Wally only spared a glance at the guard but he looked to be in a similar condition.

The archer let out a groan and opened her eyes slowly. "Wha-" she started before falling into a coughing fit. Wally listened closely but didn't hear any wheezing or see any blood, which meant her lungs were fine, just full of dust.

"Don't talk. Hold on and we'll get you out," he said in what he hoped was a clam voice, kneeling down next to her.

Unsurprisingly, Artemis ignored his orders and asked between coughs, "R-Robin. Is he-is he okay?" Wally remained silent, which was all the answer she needed. She looked over to her left and saw the boy wonder lying unconscious. The archer's face hardened and she said in a stronger voice, "Get him first. I'm fine."

Wally wanted to argue. . . well, not really. His best friend was obviously in much worse shape than Artemis and he wanted to help him as soon as possible. He nodded gratefully and carefully stepped over to pick up Robin, praying nothing else was wrong with him than what was obvious.

When Wally touched Robin's right shoulder, the boy gave a small whimper of pain that caused Wally's hand to flinch back. Hearing that sound from his best friend wasn't right. Robin never showed weakness, even when it was obvious he was in pain. It just wasn't natural for him to make that pitiful sound.

Then Wally noticed the blood. His fingertips were covered in the bright crimson liquid. Now even more fearful of what he might see, Wally carefully pulled Robin's torso upright, holding onto only his left side, and looked at his back. What he saw made his breath catch in his throat.

All the way from his right shoulder to the small of his back and covering half of his upper back, Robin's suit was torn away to reveal bloody gashes and scratches. A lot of them looked deep, though it was hard to tell with all the blood. Wally was sure of one thing though, and the thought only made him grimace; many, if not most, of the cuts would scar no matter what they did.

He heard a slight intake of breath from Artemis when she saw the boy's back. but Wally was already picking him up regardless of the teen's whimpers of pain. To Superboy, Wally said, "Tell Miss M. to call the bioship. I don't want to run him back to the mountain. It might do more harm than good. Then help Artemis. Leave him to the police." Wally nodded his head toward the guard. Superboy nodded once and Wally left, trying to go quickly while not hurting Robin more than he had to. He was all too aware of the fresh blood now coating his arm from where he was supporting Robin's back. The thought made him want to be sick.

When Wally finally made his way back to the street, M'gann already had the bioship waiting. Without stopping he ran up to the small medical room onboard and set Robin face-down on the white sheets of the hospital-style cot.

M'gann came in behind him, "Superboy said Robin and Artemis are hurt. I contacted the mountain and Black Canary is on her way there." Wally nodded. "We should clean up his back," the Martian suggested. Wally nodded again, unable to tear his eyes away from his friend's limp form.

With soft hands, M'gann pulled the speedster away from the bed and grabbed a white cloth to clean the blood from Robin's back. She wet it and placed it gently on his shoulder only to receive a sharp gasp and to see Robin's masked eyes shoot open. Not a second later the boy let out a pained groan and shut his eyes again.

"Rob!" Wally shouted, taking a step forward but stopping short of touching his best friend for fear of causing him more pain.

"Not so loud, KF. I got a massive headache." Robin cracked a small grin.

"Robin! How do you feel?" M'gann asked, holding the already stained cloth above him, afraid of hurting the young hero.

"Like someone skinned my back," he replied groggily. "Plus my arm is either broken or fractured and my shoulder might have been dislocated but I can't really feel anything there.” Then he asked, a note of worry in his voice, “How’s Artemis?”

"I'm fine," the archer's voice came from behind Wally. "The robber’s fine too. You took most of the damage. The police called an ambulance for us but I told them we didn't need it." Artemis was leaning against Superboy for support but other than her various cuts and burns she seemed fine. Robin let out a short laugh of relief that ended in a groan and a dry cough. His friends' faces grew concerned.

"I-I think I have a-" he coughed again, wincing in pain, "-cracked rib. Nothing new."

"We should get you to the mountain fast. There's no point in waiting." Wally managed to say, still elated that Robin was awake but all the more pained to see him so hurt. The others nodded and M'gann followed him out to the main room of the bioship, leaving Superboy to help Artemis find a place to sit.

Kaldur was waiting for them, looking worried. When he saw them, he immediately opened his mouth to speak but Wally cut him off. "Robin woke up. He's in a lot of pain but. . . he'll be okay. Artemis seems fine."

Kaldur nodded. "Then let's go. We have to get them proper medical attention."


	5. Sleep at Last

After he woke up Robin felt a growing desire to sleep. The need only grew worse once Wally and M'gann left, and he was barely still awake when Superboy followed after them, leaving him alone with Artemis.

A slight shift in the bioship's position told Robin they were finally heading back to the mountain.

Sleeping seemed like a pretty good idea to him right then. Letting go of the constant stinging in his back and the ache of his head. He must have hit it pretty hard on something. Probably the brick building, or when the wall fell on them.

Robin figured he must have a concussion, which would explain his longing to sleep and the numbness from most of the pain he knew he should have been feeling. He knew he shouldn't give in but the pain was still almost unbearable and sleeping sounded so good. . . No! He had to stay awake. He tried to take a deep breath but only managed a short, shallow one followed by a minute of painful coughing and trying not to move to much. He felt his fractured rib being pushed painfully against the stiff cot. Robin was dimly aware of Artemis watching him and trying to talk to him but he couldn't pay attention long enough to hear what she was saying.

Slowly, despite his fighting, Robin drifted to a blissful, dreamless sleep and felt the pain fade away.

*~*~*~*~*

Artemis watched as Robin's eyes slowly closed, becoming white slits in his black domino mask. She groaned, knowing he might go into a coma if the concussion was bad enough. She felt powerless to be unable to help him after he took most of the damage for her. Despite what she had told everyone, Artemis could hardly move without her cuts and burns stinging horribly. But she knew it could have been worse, so she didn’t complain.

Artemis didn't know exactly what Robin had done, but the thirteen year old had taken the force of their impact when they hit the building and again when they hit the ground. She couldn't help but think it might had been her weight that broke his arm.

Artemis let her thoughts drift from one topic to another, always aware of the constant pain and always glancing back at Robin and his blood-soaked back. The blood had seeped into his shirt and blended with the red fabric. She spent a few minutes like this; the silence hung heavily in the cramped room and broken only by her and Robin's uneven breathing. The boy's breath caught whenever he took a breath to deep and he seemed uncomfortable laying on his chest, even in his sleep. Artemis worried his apparently broken rib would only get worse because of it.

When the bioship finally landed, Artemis blinked out of her daze and cast another worried look at Robin. Wally came running into the room not two seconds later and spared a hurried glance at Artemis before focusing on Robin. Immediately he asked, "Why's he asleep? Didhepassout? Isittheconcussion?"

"Slow down," Artemis said. She tried to keep the speedster from freaking out, though it might not be completely bad if he did. She wasn't sure how serious Robin's concussion was yet and speed would defiantly help. "He fell asleep pretty much as soon as you left. I couldn't keep him up."

"OhgodRobcomeon! Youcan'tdothisrightnow!" Wally yelled, sounding so lost and worried that Artemis felt her usual distain for him ease slightly. Robin was his best friend and if he fell into a coma and didn't wake up. . . she wasn't sure the speedster would be able to handle that.

"Wally, what's wrong? Did something happen?" M'gann asked, coming up behind him. "Why is Robin asleep? Didn't he say he might have a concussion?"

"Yes, he probably does. You have to get him to the med bay _now_!" Artemis answered when Wally only kept babbling in super speed. No one else was able to understand him, although she caught Robin's name multiple times.

M'gann nodded and placed a hand to her temple. Slowly Robin was lifted from the bed and began to drift out the door, following the Martian as she flew to the medical bay. Wally seemed to realize a minute later that Robin was gone and he ran out after them, leaving Artemis alone and cursing him, her momentary pity vanishing.

Superboy entered the room a few seconds after Wally left and stood watching her for a few seconds before saying, "He's just worried for Robin. Not thinking right."

"Yeah, whatever. I still can't move on my own," Artemis growled. A flash of concern and confusion crossed the clone's face.

"You said you weren't hurt that bad," he said.

Artemis cursed herself for her slip. “I’m not,” she snapped. “I just don’t want to agitate the wounds more than I have to.”

She could tell from Superboy’s expression that he didn’t believe her, but he didn’t comment and wordlessly helped her to her feet.

A half-hour of painful walking later found Artemis lying on a bed in the medical bay at the mountain and hooked up to multiple machines to measure her blood pressure, hart rate and some other functions she didn't pay attention to.

Her injuries had been quickly treated by Black Canary once she and Superboy arrived at the med bay, and she was now covered in too many bandages to easily count. The monitors were an “extra precaution'” in case something serious came up that they had missed before. In the bed next to her was the limp figure of Robin, who was hooked up to even more machines than her, including a breathing mask to help get oxygen into his lungs.

From what Black Canary told her, Robin had suffered two fractured ribs, one broken arm, a dislocated shoulder, numerous injuries on his back, and a minor concussion along with various other cuts and burns. All of them because he wouldn't let her take the fall. Artemis had gotten more burns than Robin, but that was because she had been closer to the explosion when it happened. She had also learned that the guard they had saved had suffered injuries worse than her's but not nearly as bad as Robin's. The boy had even sacrificed his health for a low-life thug, something Artemis would never have done.

Presently Robin was lying on his back, which, Black Canary had told her, was due to his fractured ribs and trouble breathing. She had deemed it more damaging for him to put extra weight on his ribs than his back, despite the scratches and cuts.

After receiving all of this news, Artemis had found it hard to ask the question that had been weighing heavily on her the whole time. In the end, she hadn't needed to ask. Black Canary answered for her.

"He's stable. . . but we think he's slipped into a coma. If he doesn't wake up soon he may never wake up at all."

With that, the female superhero had left, claiming Artemis needed to rest. But Artemis had never felt less tired in her life.

So now she was lying on a hospital bed, bored out her mind and unable to focus on anything for more than a few seconds. Her boredom increased with every passing moment. Despite knowing that she didn't have a concussion and could fall asleep without fear, Artemis found it hard to relax. She had been given pain medication that numbed the stinging to a dull throb coming from every tiny cut and scrape, but the forced numbness gave her the uncomfortable sensation of not feeling attached to her limbs.

Just like in the bioship, Artemis found her eyes straying to Robin every few seconds, wishing desperately he would wake up and smirk at her and joke about her worrying to much. Her wishes were made in vain, however, as his masked eyes stayed closed and his face expressionless. She listened for any change in the constant beeping from the various machines but found it hard to tell hers from his and eventually let the mechanical melody lull her to sleep.


	6. For Me

"Robin still hasn't woken up, but Artemis is recovering smoothly," Black Canary reported.

On the screen in front of her Batman remained stoic, though she could tell he was worried about his protégé. Finally he said, "Keep me updated. I should be able to come in a few days. I've just received new intelligence that should help wrap this up faster."

"I’ll inform you of any changed," Dinah said. With that, Batman cut off the video. When he had heard about Robin's perilous condition, the man had wanted to rush straight over but was held back by a possible lead on the Joker, who had escaped from Arkham Asylum the week before. A lead like that was too important for the Dark Knight to ignore unless Robin was in immediate danger. As it was, there was nothing Batman could have done even if he had come, so he left Black Canary to watch over Robin until he could come himself.

Dinah left for the medical bay to check on Artemis and Robin. Artemis was finally asleep, though she looked troubled. Robin’s condition hadn’t changed.

The hero sighed and walked back to the team's main living area, where she found M’gann and Superboy watching static on a small TV they had found, as the remote for the larger one was still broken. When the teens heard her enter the room, they turned to look at her anxiously. Or at least M’gann appeared anxious. Superboy had a less obvious look of concern on his face, but it was there nonetheless.

Sadly, Dinah shook her head. The teens’ faces fell and they returned to the black and white static, as if trying to find nonexistent help in the crackling dots on the screen.

*~*~*~*~*

Wally's world was black. His world was also soft, as if mocking him with the comfort. His world smelled faintly of detergent and tasted like cotton. He was perfectly fine with all of this, except his black world also made it hard for the speedster to breathe so he had to keep lifting his head from his pillow to take a deep breath. When he did, Wally's world was no longer black, no longer smelled like detergent, and he only tasted air. It was still soft, though.

Wally was lying face-down on his bed, unable to process more information than absolutely necessary to remain conscious. He didn't really want to think about anything other than breathing and how hungry he was getting, but he also wished he could just sleep and relax for an hour or two, which he had so far been unable to do.

Instead, Wally was lying on his bed, reminding himself to breathe, and trying not to think about Robin. He also tried not to think about Artemis. Once he had arrived at the medical bay in the mountain, Wally remembered he had left Artemis on the bioship. Immediately he had wanted to run back and apologize; she was hurt too and he did - although he'd never admit it - care about her. Not enough to stop grating her nerves every chance he got, but enough to get worried when she had a building fall on top of her.

He hadn't gone back, however. Instead he began pacing back and forth in the hall until M'gann had arrived with Robin floating next to her. After that Black Canary appeared from the mission room, probably from talking to Batman, and had proceeded to hook Robin up to a dozen different machines and figure out exactly what had happened to him.

Wally waited with Kaldur and M'gann outside until Superboy and Artemis finally arrived from the bioship. Wally had remained silent, having forgotten all about the archer again until just then, and Artemis disappeared inside the room as well.

About a half hour later Black Canary had come out to tell the waiting teens that Robin was stable but had gone into a coma and Artemis was already patched up and going to recover perfectly fine.

After that, the hero had left, followed shortly by M'gann and Superboy. Kaldur went off to his room, telling Wally not to worry and that Robin was sure to wake up soon. The speedster had forced a small smile and a weak, "I know," before leaving for his own room, already planning on spending the night at the mountain.

So there he stayed, collapsed on his bed with nothing to do but exist and worry. After a few minutes of this, Wally decided to flip over and stare at the celling rather than the dark behind his eyelids. The process took longer than he expected, as he was trying to use as little energy as possible to turn himself on his back. A few minutes later, lying on his back and tracing patterns on the celling with his eyes, Wally realized he was just as bored and worried as he had been before.

A loud grumble came from his stomach, interrupting the speedster's thoughts. Glad for something to actually do, Wally dragged himself out of bed and down the hall to the mountain's fully-stocked kitchen. He proceeded to clear out a quarter of it, which was less than he would normally have eaten, but the worry gnawing at his stomach didn’t leave much room for an appetite.

Wally eventually gave in to his worry and left the kitchen, heading toward the medial bay. His footsteps dragged all the way down the hall.

*~*~*~*~*

Artemis woke up to the sound of a door closing with a soft click. Her eyes snapped open and she saw Wally standing in front of the closed door, staring at Robin. He didn't seem to realize that the archer was awake or even that she was there. Artemis was about to open her mouth and say something when she noticed the glassy look in the speedster's eyes. He might have been looking at his best friend's unconscious figure but his mind was far away. She remained silent.

Slowly, with jerky movements, Wally moved forward and eventually came to sit on the chair beside Robin's bed. He remained silent for several long minutes, nearly motionless except for the small vibrations that Artemis couldn't understand the reason for. Grief? The need to be able to do _something_ to help? Or was it just the fact that a speedster can't remain still for more than a few seconds at a time?

Eventually Wally's voice croaked out hesitantly, "I-I'm sorry." Artemis narrowed her eyes in confusion. What did he have to be sorry for? The explosion wasn't his fault and Robin hadn't been trying to save him like he had her. "I should have...been there," Wally continued, "Then you wouldn't be-be lying here like-like you'll never get up! I should have done _something_. Run up once everyone was out or-or _something_!"

Wally's shoulders shook with suppressed sobs. She guessed it was more regret and anger than actual grief. Of course Wally would blame himself for not being there. Despite her own guilt Artemis knew there was no one at fault except for the idiots who decided to put explosives in a bank in the first place, but Wally obviously couldn't get over thinking it was his fault. She was tempted to yell at him to get his head together when the redhead spoke again. This time only a few words that nevertheless held such sorrow and regret it tore at the archer's heart.

"Come on, Rob. Wake up for me."


	7. No Rest for the Weary

The acrid smell of car exhaust hung lightly in the air. Mixed in was the slightly stronger aroma of sewage and faint traces of cigar smoke. The almost undetectable scents were overpowered by the smell of soap, which was even then overshadowed by the slightly nauseating smell of cleaning supplies and laundry detergent.

The natural silence found in empty rooms wasn't present. Instead the air rang with the loud music of beeping electronics, all at various pitches and tempos that joined together to form one single melody similar to a school fire alarm. In the brief silences between beeps the faint sound of deep and steady breathing drifted through the air. It was accompanied by a higher-pitched breathing in the same slow tempo, faint snores sounding out every now and then.

The air was tinged with the bitter taste of chemicals; the only recognizable one being bleach.

There was then the soft, weightless feeling of laying down on fresh sheets and a fluffy pillow to go to sleep, and the warmth only felt on winter mornings when the bed is so comfortable and warm that it would be a crime to leave it so soon. The air was slightly dry, which made the feeling of cloth against skin feel scratchy and uncomfortable. Then there were less pleasant feelings; like painful throbbing and sharp stinging everywhere. Pins and needles that relentlessly poked and prodded, their stinging like an alarm saying it was time to wake up.

Finally Robin opened his eyes. The first thing he noticed was that he was still wearing his mask. It stretched and cracked on his skin as the adhesive broke, like it did whenever he wore it for too long. He wondered how long he had been asleep. The last thing he remembered was trying to stay awake on the bioship. . . but that could only have been a few hours ago at most. The adhesive never broke unless he’d been wearing the mask for at least three days.

Finally taking in his surroundings, Robin found that he was lying on a hospital bed. No. . . Not quite. Regular hospital beds were usually lighter and more moveable. This one seemed sturdier. He must still be at the mountain. He also discovered a thick layer of bandages wrapped around his chest and more on his arms. He felt one wound tightly around his head as well, holding down his messy black hair. A little more movement revealed a cast on his right arm and more bandages on his legs, although they were covered by the bed sheets.

Now directing his gaze out farther, Robin recognized the medical bay in the mountain, and also saw that he had visitors. Seated to his right was Wally, dressed in wrinkled civilian clothing and was slumped back in his chair with his mouth hanging wide open as he slept. Looking to his left, Robin's breath caught in his throat. Batman was also slumped back in his chair, although more gracefully than Wally, and was still in his full costume. Most people wouldn't be able to tell, but Robin could see the man's clear exhaustion even under the cowl. Bruce would normally never relax so fully in such an exposed environment and defiantly not with one of Robin's teammates so close by. His costume was also wrinkled and his cape was shifted to one side. He must have been there for hours at least.

"Bruce. . ." Robin's voice came out cracked and horse from lack of use, which only further proved his assumption about how long he had been out. The use of his voice also prompted his body to make every injury he had flare with fresh pain. Robin hissed and arched his back as it practically exploded from hundreds of scratches that felt like they were being carved into his skin for a second time.

The sound, slight as it was, was enough to wake the Batman from his exhausted slumber. The Dark Knight's eyes immediately located his adoptive son and for a moment he seemed to process that the boy was awake after maybe-three-days.

"Dick. . ."

The whispered voice was enough to make Robin forget his biting pain and look up at his mentor. His second father.

He asked the only thing he could think of. "How long was I out?" It might have been the most obvious question in the world to ask, but Robin's mind was still foggy with waking up.

"Four days."

"I was off by one. I'll have to do better next time," Robin said, smirking slightly. He saw the faintest upward tilt of Batman's mouth and then cracked a huge grin in triumph. Robin was always proud when he managed to make Batman show any positive emotion. Bruce was easy enough to get to smile but Batman was a whole other story, and right now his mentor was in full Batman mode.

"Next time try not to go into a coma at all." The warning was expected, so Robin only nodded once in response. When he had first started out as a young hero, Robin used to try and argue his point whenever he made a mistake. He had learned the hard way that you can't argue with the Batman unless it's something you can unquestionably prove. Now Robin knew to simply accept the warning and do better the next time.

A slurred groan from Robin's right interrupted the short conversation and announced the awakening of the fastest boy alive, who was managing to wake up as slowly as he could. Out of the corner of his eye, Robin saw Batman stand and exit the room swiftly and without Wally noticing.

"Sleep well, KF?" Robin asked, smirking as his friend jumped at the sound of his voice.

"R-Rob? You're awake!" Wally managed to stutter through his excitement.

"So are you! What, have you just been sleeping the past four days?" Robin exclaimed, exaggerating his excitement - though only by a little.

Wally frowned in pretend insult at the boy's words. "Hey, I wasn't the one in a coma.”

Instantly Robin sensed his friend's hurt and the regrets he had felt while he had been comatose. His smirk vanished and was replaced quickly by a newly serious attitude. "I know. I should have disarmed the last five mines before I ran out of time. I could have prevented this. I just wasn't fast enough."

The speedster frowned again. "Dude, don't blame yourself. There are a million things we could have done differently."

"I know," Robin sighed, laying his head back against the pillow. It was begging to throb again with all his sudden activity. "But it was my job to disarm the mines and I didn't do it. I deserved to get hurt for my mistake. I just wish Artemis and that robber hadn't needed to get hurt too."

"You were seriously worried about that thug? He's the one that started the count-down in the first place!" Wally's voice incredulous as he watched his friend closely for a response.

Robin remained resolute in his decisions and said evenly, "Even if he did that doesn't mean he deserved to get blown up. He was just a bank robber, not a psychopath. He can still be turned around if he's given the chance."

"Whatever. If saving him cost you enough time to get out-"

"KF," Robin interrupted. "We were told specifically to prevent any and all deaths. I didn't forget that when I only had ten seconds left before I exploded and you shouldn't forget it when everyone is safe."

"You might not have woken up. We didn't know for sure until now." The speedster's voice was low and heavy. It showed the young hero just how scared everyone, especially Wally, had been. "One bank robber's life isn't worth yours."

"What about Artemis? We were there together."

"She said that you grabbed them both and broke the impact when you hit the building. Then again when you hit the ground."

"Yeah."

Wally remained silent, apparently thinking over the facts and risks. Robin took the opportunity to further make his point. "It was worth saving Artemis. Even if I died. I know I could have told her to get out earlier but I also know she wouldn't have listened. If things had been switched she would have done the same thing I did. So would you or Kaldur or Superboy or M'gann." He hesitated, choosing his next words carefully. "I know the guard started the count-down, but I didn't stop it. You only had to get the hostages out safely and you did. It's not your fault."

Wally stared at the Boy Wonder for a minute before answering, "I-I know. But dude, you were out for _four days_. I-I had a lot of time to just..."

"I know. I'm sorry." Robin said, saving Wally the trouble of finding the words. The redhead nodded gratefully. He had had four days to be afraid that Robin would die. To build up hatred toward anything that might have caused it and to become so wrapped up in his anger that he forgot everything else. That was how Wally dealt with things he couldn't help. He blamed it on something else. Artemis probably would have done the same thing, but Robin suspected she more blamed herself then the robbers. Kaldur probably also felt responsible, being the team's leader. M'gann and Superboy had different ways of dealing with things like that, but humans always have a tendency to blame _something_ for every misfortune.

"I get it," Wally finally said. "We have priorities and we have to put ourselves last. But you should try putting your friends first, too. You might be okay with kicking it but none of us could handle that."

"You're being unusually deep. But yeah, I will." Robin cracked a small grin, "Not feeling very asterous right now, though. What exactly happened? My back stings like I was whipped again."

Wally frowned. "Again?”

"It's a long story. A few villains, I messed up, got caught, the usual. But seriously, what is it? I just remember hitting the wall and then. . . oh," Robin trailed off. He remembered when his costume tore at the back but he hadn't paid it any attention at the time.

"Your back was scratched up pretty bad. We think it was from when you hit the building, but Artemis isn't sure." Robin listened as Wally continued to list off his various injuries. When the speedster finished Robin sighed.

"Yeah, I'll have to do better next time. But at least it wasn't anything new. I can deal with all this."

"Hey, where'd Batman go? He was here when I. . ." Wally started, finally noticing the absence of the Dark Knight.

"He left when you woke up," Robin answered simply. Before Wally could respond the door to the large room flew open and the remainder of the team piled in. They all stopped for a split second to stare at the Boy Wonder before they exploded into questions and comments. None of them seemed to realize when the boy grimaced and put his hand to his head. Robin's headache was only getting worse from all the yelling.

Luckily Wally saw and started yelling at the others to be quiet. After the brief increase of noise the throbbing in Robin's head subsided again and he looked up at his teammates.

With his signature smirk the boy said, "You guys feeling the aster?"


	8. Next Time

"When I was interrogating the robbers they revealed that they had been hired to plant the mines in and around the bank specifically to kill or injure your team. We are currently unsure of the identity of their employer," Batman said. He was finally debriefing the team a week after the mission now that Robin was well enough to come out of the medical bay. "According to the mission objectives I gave you, the team did very well. There were no deaths and only minor injuries on the civilians’ part. However, the bank is now destroyed.”

The team was standing around Batman in the mission room. Robin had only woken up two days before but had refused to stay in bed any longer. He even managed to get past an angry Black Canary when she tried to force him to rest. He had hidden in the air vents until she promised not to strap him to the bed and give him sedatives until he was completely healed. Robin didn't blame her for worrying, but the way he saw it he had already been 'resting' for four days straight.

Robin's head still throbbed occasionally and his back stung horribly if anything touched it but he felt well enough to stand and walk, so he did. The Boy Wonder pretended not to see the sideways glances his team sent him every few seconds. Soon enough he knew they would stop worrying about him, so he concentrated on the briefing.

"The information I have collected proves that the team functioned well enough but not fast enough. You will continue training tomorrow with emphasis on speed and tracking. If Robin had not noticed the trip wires first the result could have been disastrous. You all need to improve your observation skills so that something like this doesn’t happen again. Dismissed.”

Batman cast one last look at the assembled teens before catching Robin's eye and turning abruptly to head to the zeta tubes. Robin took the silent order and was about to follow his mentor when Artemis grabbed his arm. He turned back to see the archer struggling with her words.

Robin waited patiently until she said quietly, "You better know that I think you're an idiot for wasting time on that guard. But thank you."

Robin smirked. "My pleasure. It was whelming to say the least." The archer watched as the boy hurried after his mentor and disappeared into the zeta tubes. She started to wonder if he had understood everything she had tried to say in the two short sentences. That he was an idiot, selfless, stupid, and she had never been more proud to know someone in her life. Artemis shook her head. Robin had probably already known it before she even said it. Damn bats.

*~*~*~*~*

"Dick, you know you shouldn't be walking around so much."

"I'm not about to lay in bed another four days just so you and Dinah can be satisfied I'm fine!"

"You're not fine. You wince every time you take a step and don't think I haven't noticed you constantly holding your head when it hurts!"

"Don't miss a thing, do you?" Dick grumbled. He and Bruce were in the Batcave, both with their masks off and arguing in front of the giant monitor.

"World's Greatest Detective," Bruce said. Dick caught the faint smirk on his adoptive father's face. "And I've known you since you were nine. I can tell when you're in pain."

"Then you should be able to tell when I'm too restless to lay in bed all day!" Dick protested.

"If you do anything stupid and end up hurting yourself-"

"I can hardly make myself any worse without bashing my head against the wall," Dick reasoned.

"No acrobatics either. Robin is grounded until you're completely healed," Bruce said. "Until then you can work on disarming various fake explosives. You need more practice."

"Fine," Dick agreed. He knew he could use the extra practice, but being grounded from patrol was like taking away a normal kid's phone. Almost life-threatening with side effects of overly dramatic complaints about having nothing to live for. "What's my story for school?"

"Biking accident."

"Didn't we use that last month?" Dick wondered aloud, thinking back to his extensive list of injuries and just as massive lit of excuses. "Yeah, wasn't it when Joker changed the formula for his Joker venom and I was laughing for three hours straight? I couldn't talk right for days."

"You're starting training in an hour, seeing as you're in such perfect health," Bruce said, ignoring Dick's story. "And Dick, be more careful next time."

Dick grinned and shared a short, silent conversation with the man. They hadn't been able to talk since Dick had first woken up but the boy could tell that Bruce was still just as relieved and happy as he had been then.

Bruce caught Dick's eyes. _I was worried about you._

Dick gave a small smile. _It was my fault._

Bruce narrowed his eyes slightly. _It could have been anything._

Dick shook his head. _It was me. I'll do better._

Bruce's gaze softened. Dick smile grew larger and he gave a quick hug to his mentor even though Bruce didn't like them. Dick could feel the man noticeably relax for what was probably the first time in days. Not for the first time the boy wondered if he even knew how much Bruce cared for him. He didn't think he ever would know. Not completely.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed the story! Please leave a comment if you liked it or if you have any criticisms - I'd love to hear both sides :)
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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